Pit-stop change should rev up the end of Super DIRT Week's SEF 200

Super Dirt Week: Day 1Matt Sheppard, the current Super DIRTcar Series points leader, talks about pre-race inspections being held at the NYS Fairgrounds on the first day of Super DIRT Week. Video by John Berry / The Post-Standard

Fuel-mileage races are inherently boring, whether the venue is NASCAR, IndyCar or Super DIRT Week. Fans pay to see action, not how far a driver can go on a tank of gas.

Last October, Ontario’s Stewart Friesen won the SEF 200 on the Syracuse Mile by coaxing 132 laps out of one fill-up. This year, DIRTcar officials have changed the mix by requiring a pit stop for all drivers between laps 150 and 175 of the 200-lap race.

They hope the result will be hard racing, lots of late passing and nobody with a big lead conserving fuel at the end of the race.

Oddly enough, it was not Friesen’s skillful fuel strategy alone that prompted the change. Another driver, Baldwinsville’s Jimmy Phelps, was forced into the pits by a flat tire earlier in the race. Then, with fresh tires and plenty of fuel, he roared back through the field and put heat on Friesen before settling for second.

DIRTcar officials would like to see more of that.

“What I learned from Jimmy Phelps is: You can do this,’’ said Joe Skotnicki, DIRTcar director of series and sanctioning. “You can pass cars here (at Syracuse). And if we make the playing field as such, we might be able to work that in and give the fans some additional excitement at the end.’’

The new rule will not eliminate the role of fuel mileage in the race, as drivers seek to be in the best possible positions when the final stop must be made – whether under green or yellow. If they’re near the front of the field at that point, they should come out of the pits in similar position -- assuming all goes well with the stop.

It puts a premium on the performance of pit crews, who typically don’t have to refuel or change tires at dirt races because they are mostly of short duration on smaller tracks.

“We’re not that experienced,’’ said Genoa’s Pat Ward. “My guys, this is my second year they’ve been here all together, so we’re not that experienced. You just hope you don’t make a mistake. I think the guys that try too hard on pit stops are the ones that make the mistakes.’’

In the past, the mandatory stop had to be made after lap 50. That meant that as many as 35 to 40 cars might be on the lead lap and would all pit on the first caution after lap 50. Skotnicki expects the new rule to cut down on pit-road mayhem because with the mandatory stop being very late in the race, only about 20 cars are likely to be on the lead lap.

Those are the cars that will be allowed into the pits first, so there will be more room for crews to service them safely.

“It’s crazier having 30 cars all come in on lap 60,’’ Skotnicki said.

DIRTcar officials will wait until Sunday morning to tell the teams exactly what will be required on the last stop, i.e. take fuel, change a tire, etc. Skotnicki promised they would be required to do enough so that they’ll have to come to a complete stop and not be tempted to make a rolling stop through their pit areas.

If there are no cautions between laps 150 and 175, drivers will have to pit during green-flag racing. Also, after lap 150, teams will have the option of taking on “purple” tires, which have a softer compound.

“It’s going to come down to the pit crew and track position and how you play the strategy of the race,’’ Skotnicki said.

The change will multiply the options available to teams.

“It could not change the race at all, or it could change it drastically, depending on what people decide to do,’’ said Super DIRTcar Series leader Matt Sheppard. ''We’re just going to have to wait and see how it plays out for everybody.’’

And he added one caution: “This race will always be a fuel-mileage race. … it’s who can go the farthest on one gallon. That’s the way it will always be.’’

Just not at the very end.

NOTE
-- With the cancellation of “Happy Hour’’ testing because of wet conditions, there will be no racing on the Syracuse Mile today. However, there are three divisions in action tonight at Weedsport Speedway. There will be Super DIRTcar Series races for 358-modifieds and sportsman, as well as a micro sprints event.